Wednesday, November 30, 2016

November is the month of Thanksgiving. The holiday was
originally celebrated to give thanks for the harvest and preceding year. At The
Brandon Foundation, we have so much to be thankful for, and we wanted to share
a few of those things with you! Here are 30 things we’re thankful for, one
thing for each day in the month of November.

Monday, November 21, 2016

Last week as our scholars reflected on the results of our recent
presidential election, the discussion turned inward. The President of the
United States, together with the other branches of the federal government, holds
an enormous amount of power with potential to change the world on a grand
scale. But if you’re not POTUS, how can an individual, even a very young one,
change the world? The answer The Brandon Foundation discussed was one random
act of kindness at a time. From this, came the scholars’ mission to be carried
out over the next two weeks. Use $10 to make an impact on their world and
spread kindness!

Here are some of the ideas our scholars came up with:

Darrell: Put $10 in a blessing bag that will be handed out to
Fort Wayne’s homeless as part of The

Brandon Foundation’s annual Blessing Bags
Project, which will be our December service event.

Malakhi, Ethan &
Shawn Michael: Give $2 each to 5 people.

Josh: Buy 5 Bibles to give to 5 people.

Saphia: Buy 24 cupcakes to pass out to people.

Isaiah, Auntral, Medina & DJ: Give $10 to 1 person in
need.

Elijah: Give $10 to someone when he next goes out to eat.

DeAundre: Purchase 3 cases of water and write affirmations
on each battle. Then pass out the bottles of water to 72 people.

We hope you’ll join Mission: Kindness this week and
throughout the holidays!

Don't forget that next Tuesday, November 29th is Giving Tuesday! If you'd like to make a donation to The Brandon Foundation, you can click the "Donate Now" link at the top of our blog page. Our goal for this year's campaign is $1,500.

Also, we are delighted to be one of the many charitable organizations that shoppers can support through AmazonSmile. In case you haven't heard, "AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you." If you go to smile.amazon.com, you can select a charity to support. Then each time you shop, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to the organization. Just make sure that you always shop on smile.amazon.com!

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Among the qualities that make up a great leader is good
citizenship. At The Brandon Foundation, one way that we practice this trait is through
monthly community service activities. In fact, we already have almost the whole
school year’s volunteer days planned.

For the month of September, thirty scholars, mentors, board
and family members volunteered with Kids Against Hunger. Together with thirty-five
other teams, more than 100,000 meals were packed to send to families in the
Philippines! It was exciting to be part of such an effort, seeing members of
the Fort Wayne community come together to aid global citizens half way around
the world.

Rebecca Bormann, President of the Board of Directors, said
of her experience at the event, “I was very fortunate to have a father who
instilled in me the importance of giving back. One of his favorite quotes by
Martin Luther King, Jr. is ‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What
are you doing for others?”’ I feel so grateful to be able to help pass this
lesson along to our scholars. I love to watch our students generosity out-poured
and eagerness to help others!”

Kids Against Hunger is a food-aid organization based in
Omaha, Nebraska, with more than 75 satellite locations across the U.S. and
Canada. KAH’s goal is to eradicate world hunger, which they do through
packaging highly nutritious, fortified soy-rice casserole meals. They partner
with other organizations to distribute meals in over 60 countries. Last year, Kids
Against Hunger’s packaging centers put together over forty million meals!

December – Make and distribute care packages for Fort Wayne’s
homeless

January – OPEN

February –Lutheran Children’s Hospital – making Valentine’s
cards with patients

March – Lutheran Life Village – visit the elderly

April – St. Mary’s Soup Kitchen

May – OPEN

If you know of any organizations that need a
helping hand from our good citizens let us know! We’re still looking for a
couple of opportunities yet this year. You can email us at
brandonfoundation@hotmail.com.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

As
The Brandon Foundation’s 4th academic year begins next Tuesday, the
Board of Directors has been planning for the many years to come. This summer,
The Brandon Foundation Board met with Michael Burns Consulting, LLC to put
together a three year strategic plan.

The Board first completed a thorough analysis of what The B
Foundation has accomplished so far, where our strengths and weaknesses lie, and
which resources are already available to us and which are lacking. After much
consideration, they set goals, prioritized them, and considered what steps we need
to take to accomplish them.

Here’s
a peak into the Board’s assessment of the current Brandon Foundation and the
potential future in store for us:

Our
greatest strengths are the reputation that we’ve built in the Fort Wayne
community and Christian principles that guide us. Our main weaknesses come from
the increasing need for volunteers and the limitations of our current facility
that we are beginning to outgrow.

SIDE NOTE: If you or
someone you know is interested in getting involved, we have a variety of
opportunities for YOU! We need mentors, board members, committee participants,
grant writers, a mentor coordinator, and an educational consultant! If you don’t
have a lot of time to spare for an official position, you can also support us
at our events!

The biggest opportunity that we see on the horizon is to
find a corporate or private sponsor, which would grow our financial resources. This
would allow us to expand the program. However, it is extremely important that
we maintain the one-on-one relationships between scholars and mentors, so it
will be key to our success to grow only if it makes sense for the organization.
We do not want to grow too quickly simply for growth’s sake. The pressure to expand
is the biggest threat to The B Foundation as an increase in the number of
scholars without an equal increase in mentors will pull us away from one of our
core values.

A
few of our future goals include: moving into our own facility, additional board
members, paid staff members, and honing our governance practices. Our ultimate
dream is for current scholars to return to The Brandon Foundation as future
mentors!

With the continued encouragement and support of community
members like you, we know that we can achieve all that we’ve dreamed and more!

Sunday, July 31, 2016

Summertime means no school, staying up
later, catching lightening bugs in the evening, and SUMMER CAMPS!!! This
summer, our students attended many different camps.

Deaundre
and DJ picked up some new moves at the Plex Flag Football camp! Through the
Plex’s program, Deaundre and DJ learned about being strong and active not only
physically but also mentally through hard work, drive, and initiative. Deaundre
also performed in the Civic Theatre’s Joseph
and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as a part of the children’s choir!

Isaiah
and Auntral went to the Euell Wilson summer camp. The Christian-based organization
focuses on helping youth to develop values and skills needed to become
contributing citizens and productive leaders. The boys went to teen night and participated
in dance team. Auntral got to play football at St. Francis. And to top it all
off, they spent a week at Bear Lake! They canoed, slept in a cabin, and roasted
marshmallows nightly!

Shawn
Michael took gymnastics classes at Gymnastics in Motion. The gym believes in
introducing children to healthy physical activity by providing a fun and safe
learning environment! Gymnastics in Motion prides itself on keeping class sizes
small both for safety and so that students can get the individual attention they
need in a positive and helpful atmosphere.

Our girls – Edyn, Medina, and Aaliyah
– spent a week in the great outdoors at Camp Michindoh in Hillsdale, Michigan. Michindoh is a Christian-centered
camp and conference center on a beautiful 250 acres serving adults and youth of
MICHigan, INDiana, and OHio. The girls swam, did lots of activities, and made
new friends in a fun and caring environment! I got a chance to speak briefly
with the Jackson sisters after they returned from camp, and here’s what they
had to say about a few of their favorite things at Michindoh:

Medina loved swimming and going to the
chapel every day! Campers went to chapel once in the morning and once in the
evening daily. Medina found the chapel sessions to be fun and inspiring!

Aaliyah’s favorite activities at camp
were going to chapel, volleyball, crafts, and archery!

Thursday, July 7, 2016

WHO & WHAT: The Brandon Foundation students, mentors, and supporters will be walking (or riding on our float) in the 48th Annual Three Rivers Festival Parade this weekend! The theme of this year's parade is Indiana's Bicentennial: Celebrate History - Ignite the Future.

Be sure to wear your red, white, and blue!

WHEN: Saturday, July 9 starting at 10am

WHERE: Downtown Fort Wayne - from Calhoun St. to Berry St. to Fairfield Ave. to W. Wayne St.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Well, the big night that we’ve been planning for months
finally happened last Friday. An Evening to Empower was a big success thanks to
all of you, our many supporters! We had 140 guests and raised $32,000 which
will be used for the upcoming school year’s programming, next summer’s camp
fees, and to grow our college scholarship fund. In case you missed it, here’s a
recap:

When the doors at Yolo opened, the night kicked off with photos
of our fabulously dressed guests by Heather Applegate of Life’s Journey
Photography and live music by the Todd Harrold Band. Brandon Foundation
students escorted patrons to their tables in the banquet hall. Inside, Teresa
Yarbrough of Expressions Studio Gallery had started a live painting that would
be auctioned off later in the evening as a part of the live auction. Our guest
of honor was “the real Brandon” who inspired the creation of the organization. Guests
perused the selection of silent auction packages and put in initial bids,
feeling out how much competition they’d have for the items they wanted most. Granite
City provided beer tastings to pair with the crab cake and caprese skewer
appetizers. Following dinner, the B Foundation Step Team gave a stellar
performance! Coach Adrian has instilled in them incredible discipline, and I,
for one, was extremely impressed by the routine.

Ryan Clark of Dynamic Sound Entertainment emceed the rest of
the night and kept the good vibes rolling. Next, we heard from a few very
important adults members of our organization. Miss Caty, the founder, greeted the
audience and spoke about The Brandon Foundation’s core values. Miss Rebecca, vice
president of the board of directors and mentor, spoke about the important role
that parents have and why their partnership has been critical to our success. Then,
Rockell Franklin, the mother of our two oldest young men, expressed the impact
that The Brandon Foundation has had on her and her family’s life. Finally,
Melissa Hirsch, secretary of the board, closed an emotional and powerful segment
of the evening by announcing Sara’s Service Scholarship. The award was created
in honor of Miss Sara, one of our first mentors, who recently found out about a
serious health issue. Students will be able to apply for the award for use
towards higher education, and the decision criteria will involve financial
need, academic achievement, and an exceptional community service record, just
as Miss Sara herself has had in the Fort Wayne community.

The evening’s excitement culminated in the live auction, called
by Jerry Ehle and Max Woebbeking of Schrader Real Estate & Auction of Fort
Wayne. A few intense bidding battles ensued, but the ice was broken by the
surprise of finding that some packages had a twin! There were 2 craft beer
buckets and 2 gourmet dinners with Chef Eric Braun to be auctioned off. Shortly
after the live auction finished up, silent auction bidding closed. Guests
collected their new treasures, grabbed a bite of cheesecake and headed home for
a much deserved good night’s rest.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

For the month of March, the students at The Brandon
Foundation were given a big, new challenge: to start their own businesses and
run them profitably. At the end of the challenge, 1 student with the most
profits would win a BIG check for $175, on top of whatever profit they would
make during the month.

Students chose to sell either a product or service. The names of each student’s business are
below. Once students decided on what to sell, their mentors helped them to
create a business plan, which detailed the price of the product or service, the
cost of materials needed and a target market to sell to. After business plans
were finalized, students developed a marketing plan and designed business
cards. Miss Caty gave each student a $20 startup loan to purchase supplies,
which was later repaid from each business’ profits. Finally, they could start
production and marketing!

Lessons at the foundation for the month of March focused on
the ins and outs of running a business and how other young entrepreneurs have
been successful. Some very young business owners have already made millions of
dollars because of their innovative ideas and hard work. Tom Harris, Fort Wayne
city councilman and business coach, came to speak with the students as well
about maximizing their profits. In short, the students learned that age should
never stop them from pursuing their dream of running a business!

After 30 days of learning and a lot hard work, Edyn Moore won the challenge and earned
$155 in profit from her business, Edyn’s Cleaning & Decorating Services!
Here’s what she had to say about her experience:

Edyn Moore, Age 10, 5th Grade

AB: Where did the inspiration for your business idea come from?

EM: I saw a
magazine article about how to do cleaning and be more organized.

AB: What has been the most difficult part about running a
business for you?

EM: The
hardest part was trying to accomplish new cleaning and decorating tasks for the
first time.

AB: What was the most important thing that you learned from the
challenge?

EM: Even
though I’m only 10 years old, I can still do anything that I want to, even though
I’m little.

AB: How excited were you to find out that you won the
challenge?!

EM: I was really happy, but I didn’t want to make a big deal about it because I knew the other students wanted to win, even though they were happy for me.

AB: What do you plan to do with your profits and the money that
you won?

EM: I already put $100 in my college fund, and the rest is for me.

AB: Do you plan to continue your business?

EM: Yes

AB: Is there anything that you want to change about the business
going forward?

EM: I would
change calling more people ahead of time to get more clients.

AB: Do you see yourself owning other businesses in the future,
for your career?

EM: Probably not for my career, but I would for extra spending money, like for the summer.

AB: So, do you know what might want to do for a career.

EM: I want to be a famous track player.

AB: Is there anything else that you'd like to say about your experience during the business challenge?

EM: It was really fun! It was never about the money for me. Even though we had to do it, it was just something fun for me to do!

Thank you for reading!

Abby Bormann & The Brandon Foundation

P.S. In case you haven’t heard, or haven’t bought your
tickets yet, The Brandon Foundation is having a dinner and auction fundraising
event on Friday, May 20th from 6-10pm at Yolo Event Center in Fort
Wayne! The money raised from this event will go towards programming and our college scholarship
fund, and our goal is to raise $60,000. If you’d like to join us, please buy
your tickets at the following link: http://brandon16.auction-bid.org/micro2.php!
If you are not able to join us but would still like to support us, you can make
a donation at the same link and share the event with your friends and family!

Thursday, March 17, 2016

The Brandon Foundation is gearing up for our 2nd dinner
and auction at YOLO Event Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana on Friday,
May 20th.The night will be an "Evening to Empower" our
current and future students. The
goal of the event is to raise $60,000 ($40,000
for our College Scholarship Fund and $20,000 for our program funding).

Because of the generosity of our supporters, The Brandon
Foundation's students have shown tremendous improvements, both academically and
socially. We are so proud of our scholars;
almost half of our students made Honor Roll this past academic
quarter. Our students have also
been learning the importance of giving back to the community. One of our
favorite community service projects this year was making Valentines with, and
for, the patients at the Lutheran’s Children’sHospital. We met some amazing
children who were so happy to have a break from their hospital beds. As we
left, we passed out Valentines to people
waiting in the lobby. The smiles and happiness were priceless!

Would
you consider helping our efforts? You can help make our event successful by
donating an item, gift certificate, a service, or a monetary gift. Your tax-deductible
contribution will make it possible for the children of The Brandon Foundation
to continue to grow, pursue opportunities, and develop as future community leaders. We anticipate having over 200 attendees, and
all business donors will be featured in our program. Any donation in support of The Brandon Foundation will be
well-received; no gift is too small.

Donations may be mailed to:

The Brandon Foundation

P.O.
Box 15966 Fort Wayne, IN
46885

If you have an item that needs to be picked
up, please contact Rebecca Bormann at (260) 413-8483 or rebeccab262@gmail.com
to make arrangements.

We want to extend an invitation for you, your family, and your friends to attend our "Evening to Empower." As
guests, you will enjoy live music by The Todd Harrold Band and a live painting
by Teresa Yarbrough during cocktail hour, socializing, formal dining, and a silent
and live auction.We still
have individual tickets for $50 and table sponsors (8 tickets) for $500
available; we would love to see you there!

Youth Mentoring

The Program

When: Mondays & Tuesdays from 4:30 pm until 6:30 pm, during the school year (We follow the FWCS calendar)

Where: St. Henry's Community Center -- 2929 E. Paulding Rd. (46816)

Cost: FREE! Snacks provided!

Our Vision & Purpose: The Brandon Foundation is a non-profit organization that prizes ethical behavior and integrity, that seeks to provide educational empowerment with Christian spiritual foundations. We explore our scholars' gifts and guide them to be future leaders while filling the gaps according to individual needs. We reach out to parents to become resources that align with The Brandon Foundation program to create world changers.